"I'm 39 and there aren't many younger than me," says Adam Ellis, a saddler from Walsall, as he rues the decline of his trade. Ellis, who has been making horse saddles, bridles and girdles in the heart of the Black Country for the past 20 years, is worried that with no new blood coming into the sector and increasingly cheap imports from abroad, the industry could decline even further.

"In the past 20 years I've noticed it dwindling. A lot of it is due to age because not a lot of young people are coming into it but I don't blame them. There are no opportunities and no apprenticeships."

The story is the same all over the country. After two decades of trying to keep their heads above water in an ever-growing services sector economy, manufacturers were then hit hard by the worst financial crisis since the second world war. As the economy clambers out of recession, manufacturers are now looking for new ways to revive their businesses.

Walsall's declining leather industry is a prime example of what has happened to Britain's manufacturing sector. At the turn of the 20th century, Walsall was the greatest centre of leathergoods and saddlery trades in Europe and nearly every family in the town had at least one leather worker. Apart from saddles, the factories made everything from ice skates to rounders balls, and from gloves to dog leads.

Over the past 20 years, however, the industry has been in rapid decline. Most of the fancy leather factories that made designer handbags and clothing accessories have closed and there are only a few saddlers left in the town. Those who are left are struggling as Argentina, China and India ramp up cheap imports to the UK.

"We've been harmed by imports from Argentina and China because they are cheaper," said Ellis. "The only thing you can rely on is that here it's well-made and made in Britain.

"I would say that about 85% of our stuff is bespoke – especially on the saddle side. This time of year it's mainly polo, but the Argentinians are always pushing polo and always competing on price."

Leather goods used to be mass-produced in Walsall, but nowadays the majority of goods are bespoke as the mass production lines move to countries where labour is much cheaper.

Shaun Jeffs, who runs the Vale Brothers saddlery a few units down from Ellis's UK Saddles factory, was forced to close his factory for one day a week at the height of the recession in a desperate bid to cut costs.

Vale Brothers, which makes the Queen's horse grooming brushes, is now back to a five-day week and is continuing to produce hand made quality goods.

"We have to keep trying," said Jeffs as he proudly looks at his staff carefully cutting and stitching the saddles.

"In the UK we are proud that we do make them from start to finish. In other places people know just one skill on the production line but my staff know every part of production."

Jeffs does not think that 13 years of Labour has helped Britain's flagging manufacturing sector as the government has focused its energies on turning the country into a services sector economy. However, he doesn't think that it will be any different if the Conservatives come to power.

"Manufacturing has gone to services. I don't think it will be any different under the Tories. That's the way the world is – demand for cheaper products."